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The Consumer Olympics: Navigating Craigslist
September 11, 2008 5:22 PM
Craigslist.org put a roof over my head. It additionally gave me a bed to sleep in, and one day I hope it will provide me with a bicycle (when we are ready to take that step in our relationship). But lately, Craig's been distant.
The population in the metro Austin, Texas, area is a little more than 1.5 million people. It's understandable that the most prevalent online classified ads site is saturated with posts selling, needing, and trading items and ideas. But something is awry in the state of Texas.
What I mean is, New York City has got what … eight times as many people? To exaggerate (just a tad), it appears as though Austin has eight times as many posted ads. The same goes for cities like San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and in some of the classified areas, even Los Angeles. While multiple ads present consumers with more options they also throw kinks into the process of digitally rummaging through ads and confirming a purchase.
I responded to a few of the thousand ads to find out how long it takes to sell each item.
I inquired about five bikes and three benches, secretly hoping the small-framed lady Schwinn was still available yet telling myself it probably wouldn't happen -- she was bound to have other suitors.
After receiving eight "Sorry, it's already sold" responses I followed up with a question: "So, just how long did it take before your grubby hands touched untaxed cash profit?"
The bikes sold within an hour after the ad was posted. The furniture averaged about a day, with many people using trial and error to filter through the Craigslist flake-outs who never showed.
I'm an underdog competitor in the consumer Olympics. At one point, if I needed something, I'd turn to a friend or turn to Craigslist, but at the beginning of the summer, the popularity of the site blossomed, and classified ad sections in publications such as the Austin Chronicle have withered. So where can I buy necessities now during my time as a student pauper?
Craig, don't deny our history … come back to me.
-- Chelsey Delaney
September 11, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (3)
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Lately, Craigslist has been the dumping ground of foreign spammers in electronics and computers in the SF Bay Area. Teams of flaggers have worked tirelessly to kill off dozens of listings several times a day. These listings are proven fraudulent, and all sound too good to be true. We may have succeeded this week, but they'll be back with cheap cell phones, cameras, printers, watch 3000 channels and more, just call us in China or send $9.95 for lifetime access.
Regarding quick sales, yep that's one thing that happens and I love it. Nevertheless, I've got items that won't sell, and I've tried giving 'em away. CL is the wild west, warts and all.
Flaggers like myself write to CL's abuse department and request better software to deal with spammers. Geek friends say it's not hard to write code that'll learn in real time from flagged postings and automatically hunt down ongoing posting violations. Alas, Craig is slumbering. If it continues and spreads, Craig will wake as his brand is seriously diluted. Won't the newspapers rejoice!
There are no tools to automate the hunt for what you want. You must check in frequently or you'll miss something. I've literally sold a few dozen items within moments after my postings showed up in the list. And I'd love a widget to watch CL for me and sound the alert when a keyword or phrase appears.
We all want Craig to come back, but better than ever.
I vote for listing fees to stop the spam, improve credibility.
Posted by: match | Sep 11, 2008 6:46:16 PM
True!
It took me at a month of stand-ups to track down a bike on the ol' Austin CL.
What actually works pretty well is posting a "wanted" AD - describing the bike you are looking for.
Don't give up!
Posted by: Veronica | Sep 14, 2008 9:56:24 PM
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Posted by: ljyhsgm hyznd | Sep 28, 2008 3:16:51 AM
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